Briefly Sketched
by candourly-unspoken
Summary: Have you ever wondered what happened to Tom Riddle's diary before Ginny found it? Here's the black notebook's story. Marauder Era.
1. Homecoming

_DISCLAIMER: __We do not own Harry Potter, the characters or anything related to it. However, we do own our imagination as well as our OC._

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**Homecoming**

"Here we are again," said James Potter cheerfully to his three friends as they arrived at the Hogsmeade station, ready for their fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He breathed deeply, grinning, "Smell the fresh air of the Scottish countryside… aah…"

"That was just pathetic, Prongs," Sirius broke in, cutting James off mid-sentence.

"Hey, love is all around us, Pads!" responded the black-haired boy, no offence in his voice. "Chill, mate! You were like this whole…" _way up here_, he wanted to say but couldn't as a certain red-head walked by. James just stood there, watching her pass by, with an extremely stupid expression on his face.

Still, after all those years Lily was his ideal. Still he looked at her utterly awe-struck by her beauty. And it didn't matter that in reality she wasn't all that perfect. Of course she wasn't the prettiest girl ever, but the beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and he didn't care about her flaws in the slightest. Even those five freckles on her nose, which she hated so fiercely, he thought adorable.

"Oi," Remus waved his hand before his friend's face. "Earth to James!"

James turned his head to the boy, absentmindedly. Suddenly, an obviously _brilliant _idea hit him, and, huge grin forming on his lips, he ran after the girl, shouting the well-practised words, "Go out with me, Evans!" as if his life depended on it. Without even gracing him with a look the redhead responded in an annoyed voice, "Not in this life, Potter!"

James smile grew even wider, "Oh, come on Evans. You know you love me…" In response the redhead only rolled her eyes and let out a perfectly derisive sigh, then turned on her heel and marched purposefully from him. Even though nobody saw any point in standing there with her already gone, he just couldn't move and remained grinning stupidly at her hastily retreating back.

Sirius patted him on the shoulder and they headed to the castle, talking about the new pranks James and Sirius invented during holidays and wondering how long it would be before they could try out new mischief on Snape.

Finally they reached the school buildings and the four friends were greeted in the Entrance Hall by the proud ghosts of houses and various students. They were probably the most popular, or at least the best-known, guys in school. There wasn't a person who hadn't heard about the mischievous four – even the new first-year students looked at them admiringly.

Now and then in Hogwarts' history there were pranksters, but never once before had there appeared four such troublesome but bright and extremely clever students at the same time. They always got the highest grades and detentions with absolutely no effort. Even Poltergeist Peeves respected them greatly and every once in a while helped them to pull some prank on Mr. Filch and his lovely cat – Mr. Radcliffe. For unknown reasons Filch liked to name all his cats using some kind of title. The rumours had it that a long time ago there was even a sir, Sir Roger in fact.

The School of Hogwarts looked just as they all remembered since it was not a place you would be likely to forget with its grand chambers, high ceilings, living portraits… Each and every step echoed in the cavernous place; even a bare whisper was perfectly audible at the other end of the corridor.

The Great Hall, just as it had been five years ago when they had entered it for the very first time, was almost intimidating, with a star-speckled ceiling reflecting the calm night outside. It was the most spectacular sight in the entire castle, absolutely breath-taking with its dozens of candles floating in the air and heavy draperies covering brick walls. They sat down by the table talking and laughing, James from time to time throwing quick glances at Lily, who was, to her absolute misfortune, sitting across him, making faces at her best friends.

Even after the Sorting Ceremony had begun, James and Sirius' voices did not subside. It was practically a tradition for them to pass comment on every event that had occurred during the holidays. At the present moment James was sitting on the edge of his chair, jumping up and down and gesticulating wildly, much to his friend's amusement.

"…and then I told him to shove that little pimped-up broom of his you-know-where! Yeah!"

At this point he lifted his fist and punched the air triumphantly, smugness visibly written on his face.

"YEAH!" Peter cheered a moment later, probably even more excited than James himself. But when he realised that everyone was now listening to them and throwing him awkward looks, he turned fully pink and cleared his throat. "Ahem, I mean…yeah." The cheering came much quieter this time.

James took no notice, too busy trying to impress Lily and failing miserably to actually pay attention to his surroundings, but the redhead just looked at him with utter disgust. The boy was feeling his ego slipping from him at alarming speed and was desperately in need of his friends' witty (Sirius) and well-reasoned (that's Remus) remarks. To James' disappointment they weren't much of a help at the moment with Remus, throwing nervous glances toward the first-years and Sirius' balancing a fork on his index finger, an unreadable expression on his face.

It was so strange not to hear Sirius' chattering by his side that Remus had to check if he was still there. He looked at the other boy for a while, an amused expression appearing on his face, then, when long moments had slipped by in which Sirius had taken no notice of him, he jabbed him in the ribs. Sirius jumped in his seat, fork falling from his finger and reaching the table with a loud clatter.

"Oi! Why did you do that for??" he whined.

"Dunno," muttered the other boy serenely, as if he was wondering himself.

"You're weird, you know that?" Sirius picked a spoon from the table and was now examining it carefully.

"I'm trying my best," Remus grinned almost proudly. Sirius just shot him a perplexed look and placed the spoon on the tip of his nose. Once again Remus' finger met Sirius' side.

Again, "What was that for?!"

But before Remus had a chance to respond and Sirius to kill him with a look, the headmaster tapped his goblet with the tip of his knife and instantly everyone fell silent. Dumbledore stood up slowly, smiling. "Good evening everyone," he waved at the students. Minerva McGonagall shot him a scornful look from behind her spectacles but he didn't seem to notice as he continued in the same cheerful tone, "I hope you all enjoyed the supper."

"It's over? Already?" asked Peter in a terrified whisper, disappointment painted in his eyes. "What about the desserts?" At this point Dumbledore clapped and said sweets appeared on the four tables. Peter cheered happily and begun to eat, desperately trying to taste every dish possible before it was gone. His friends just stared at him, having great difficulties in suppressing chuckles; then they switched their attention to Dumbledore, who was now announcing the changes in the schedule and the dates of the prefects' meetings. At this point, Sirius and James looked at Remus with half-amused, half-mocking blinks in their eyes but he just shrugged. He got used to their jokes about him being a prefect during the summer.

When Dumbledore appeared to be finished, mischievous twinkles appeared all of a sudden in his eyes. "Oh, I almost forgot. One more thing." He looked around the Great Hall and finally his gaze stopped on James' face. "I'm delighted to announce that James Potter is Gryffindor Quidditch Team's new captain."

Aloud cheer and raucous applause came from the table where the Gryffindors were sitting. Everyone's eyes were now on the black-haired boy. Almost. The Slytherins were, of course, pretending not to notice but most of them failed when the Gryffindors turned to stick their tongues at them. The students dressed in green didn't find it amusing at all. Several of them even started to pull out their wands but they quickly decided against this, obviously convinced that Gryffindors weren't worth their spells. Sirius and Remus were of course the first to congratulate the new captain.

"James, that's great! Congratulations!" they told him, although with slightly less enthusiasm in their voices than the black-haired boy had expected. But he didn't allow the thought to bother him right now.

Damn, he was the captain! The biggest prankster in history. _Ok, ok, maybe just in Hogwarts' history_, he rectified, with affected modesty. Now, that will show Lily! Who does she think she is?! _The most beautiful girl you've ever seen and the one you've been madly in love with since about forever?_, _answered _a little voice at the back of his head. _Oh, right. Heck! _

Several students sitting close enough started to shake James' hand, huge smiles on their faces. The others were crowding behind their backs, waiting for their turn. Within five seconds James was surrounded by wreaths of people, mostly Gryffindors, and as he realised a second later, he didn't even know half of them by name. Nevertheless he let his hand be shaken and his shoulder patted. He did deserve it after all, didn't he?

James was still beaming, his eyes radiating with pride, when he noticed Lily's horror-struck expression and the smile on his face faded instantly. He frowned and turned away disgruntled. Suddenly he felt something weighing on his arm. He looked down to see Peter tugging on his sleeve, staring at him in awe. James yanked his arm from Peter's surprisingly tight grip and growled, "Get lost!" Peter sniffled audibly and went away utterly broken.

"Now, let's get back to our delicious desserts," stated Dumbledore genially, already placing a piece of chocolate cake on his plate.

"James, what was that?" Remus' accusing look hit the black-haired boy square in the head and he replied stiffly, looking infuriated and outraged.

"He's just…"

Whatever he wanted to say was muffled by the contemptuous voice of a person sitting in front of him, who transpired to be a rather annoyed Lily.

"Isn't it obvious? He's a swell-headed idiot, that's all."

James' eyes caught her gaze and he looked down ashamed, his ego wounded, his happiness banished. Her every word stung him deeply, more than he would ever let anybody know.

"I think he's just upset," started Remus shyly. Lily looked at him, disbelief painted in her emerald eyes. "He didn't say anything that horrible. I _cannot _believe you have never snapped at anybody," he added in a quieter voice.

The girl remained silent for a moment, then said reluctantly, "Actually… you're right," Nevertheless she gave James another hard look at which he curled up. "But at least I do try to control myself, in contrary to _some_ people here," Lily Evans, if she wanted to, could be truly mean. And she definitely knew how to hit one's weakest points.

Although Remus didn't quite like when she attacked people like that, he had to admit that her argument was logical and very rarely biased. With the exception of James Potter, that is. Throughout all those years, Remus didn't really know whose side to take. On one hand, had been friend with James, on the other hand he had been spending too much time with Lily to treat her only as an acquaintance. That's why he had been trying to convince her to, at least, try to get to know James better before she took a chance to ostracise him. Raised eyebrows and sceptical looks were the only answer he had ever received. So, with time, he just accepted that there would never be truce between those two.

It wasn't really anything new about Lily and James anymore. Everybody got used to those constant scenes of anger almost as quickly as they had begun. Now Sirius was throwing them both amused looks and Lily's friends, Angelica and Isabelle, didn't even bother to cut their conversation. Nobody knew whether it was because those encounters were happening on daily basis or because they would have to listen to her complaints later on anyway.

James tirelessly trying to win her affections, or rather miserably failing to do so, was an extremely sweet sight. Of course, that was if you pretended to overlook his cockiness and self-assurance. It was clearly only caused by Lily's presence, as with any other girl he would be able to carry on a normal conversation, joking and flirting. But whenever she came in the picture he became nervous, extremely nervous. And, as Sirius called it, his coping mechanism was that self-conceited act. Yet she was never to know about any of that.

The only person that seemed to care about the bickering was Severus Snape. He was sitting at the Slytherin table in the other corner of the Great Hall and was watching Lily's responses intently, relaxing every time he saw irritation painted on her face or sparks of anger in her emerald eyes. For the last couple of months his friendship with Lily was like a roller coaster ride. He hadn't realised yet that he was the one tearing them apart with his interests in the Dark Arts and his dark friends. Deep down, they both knew that the very second he was sorted to Slytherin while she had joined the Gryffindors, five years ago, their friendship was to be doomed. Straight from the beginning.

The last months were extremely hard for both of them. Especially with him, being so resentful, starting new quarrels every time a message from James came (so quite often) and her being so frustrated with his behaviour. Because telling him over and over again that those letters didn't mean a thing to her was already getting old. Lately she had been reserved; silence had been accompanying their encounters. Often she would burst out with anger without any particular reason and then leave almost immediately.

He had been hoping, secretly, that they would make up now, as a new school year began. But then he realised that his friends, his _only _friends, would never understand him being in any kind of relations with a Mudblood. _Mudblood_; that was how he had been calling her behind her back for months now. Hoping foolishly that she would understand.

He ripped his eyes from the innocently stunning face of the redhead and noticed that Dumbledore was rising to his feet again. _What now? He's already said more than enough!_, the angry thought entered Severus' head.

Dumbledore for his part bumped his spectacles up his prominent nose, waiting patiently for the cheers, which exploded after his latest announcement and were still vibrating under the high ceiling of The Great Hall, to fade.

"There is especially one subject that I would like to raise now." His voice lost the joyful note it had had before and became serious, his gaze stern. "I'm sure you all know that dangerous things have been happening recently." Suddenly the whole room stopped breathing. No one had thought that even Dumbledore would have a nerve to pick up that particular case. The increasing wave of crimes that had occurred in Great Britain was a taboo subject; nobody, neither newspapers nor authorities had been saying more than necessary, which in that case was practically nothing.

For the last few years the Dark Wizard, who called himself Lord Voldemort, and his followers, had been trying to take over the Ministry of Magic. Over the whole Wizarding World, in fact. The increasing number of disappearances among Muggles and Muggle-borns were almost unheard of due to the Minister's clever excuses. Very often not even a word appeared in the press, suppressed by the authorities. Voldemort was now gathering an army of his trusted followers from among noble pureblood families and other magical creatures, like werewolves or goblins.

The Ministry of Magic was still denying that the situation was getting out of hand. Every public area was under constant surveillance, just in case someone decided to speak up and inform the society. But in the sham safety of their households people were whispering. What would it take for someone to admit the truth? A mass breakout from the Azkaban, perhaps, or maybe a rebel Dementor would do?

Dumbledore continued his speech undisturbed. "You can see that these things happen to common people. Innocent people. It might happen to you. What I need you to realise now is that you're not studying here just to pass your exams but also to be prepared to defend your life, to protect your family. And not only yours but any other person's as well.

"What you will do with this information is your own business. No matter what the Ministry says, it is my belief that you deserve to know." The old man's eyes were wandering from one face to another, engraving his every word in their memory.

"This year Defence Against the Dark Arts classes will be much different than before." Dumbledore wasn't finished yet. "There will be much more practical training. Especially against the Imperius Curse; the older students should know what I'm talking about,"

The whispers abruptly filled the Great Hall; the words '_but it's forbidden'_ slipped from somebody's lips. At one single look of Dumbledore's the noise stopped. "There is no need to panic!" he bellowed. "It's just a precaution."

There was a long uneasy pause while the students started to exchange unsure looks and nervous whispers. Finally the headmaster spoke once more.

"I hope I haven't frightened you too much. Nothing is going to happen," he said thoughtfully, his calm voice reassuring. "Now I suggest you all to proceed to your Common Rooms. First years," – here, Dumbledore turned to them with a kind smile - "I advise you to follow your Prefects if you don't want to get lost in such a big castle as Hogwarts. Because once you're lost you might not be found," he added with a wink.

"And Prefects, I will expect you by the entrance to my office."

All the teachers stood up and left through the side door situated by their table. Remus and Lily hurried towards the dazed group of first years who were still throwing confused glances around the hall and led them to the Gryffindor Tower. During their walk Remus told them a little about the Hogwarts' history, just enough for their brains overloaded by new sensations and views not to explode.

By the time they reached the Common Room, Sirius, James and Peter had already been occupying the couch placed before the fireplace. As they entered, James immediately sprung to his feet, grinning nervously and scratching his head, his good humour already returned. "Hey Evans, mind me walking you to the Prefects' meeting?"

"Actually, yes," the redhead hissed, shooting him a warning look as if saying; _don't start anything with the first years in here_. She turned around gustily, facing the first years and starting to explain where the dormitories were, when James' voice caused her to stop in the mid-sentence.

"Why not?"

"Not _here_, Potter! I've already told you thousands of times – I won't go out with you!" Lily snarled stepping toward the boy. Eyes of the first years' girls were wandering between James' face, staring at him in admiration, and Lily's, shooting her what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you-he's-hot looks. Yet Lily chose to ignore them all.

"You didn't give me a chance even once!" James' voice was unusually calm and there was a pleading note to it. "How do you know you wouldn't like the date?"

"How do _I _know?" the hurricane commonly known as Lily was growing in strength. "Let me tell you then," the girl placed her hand on her hip and took one step more. She was now so close to James that he could perfectly see the flames of anger burning in her eyes. Had the circumstances been different, he would have enjoyed the closeness immensely. "I feel disgusted at the very thought of going out with you and being forced to spend more than five seconds in the presence of your ever-growing ego, don't you get it?"

"I'm not that bad when you get to know me better," James smiled wryly.

"Oh, how modest of you!" she snapped back at him. "What a pity that I don't like the idea at all. But, of course, you just have to always get what you want, don't you? James Potter, the world champion, that's what you think you are! And you know what? You're not. You're just..."

The situation was spinning out of control once again and there was literally no way to stop it. Ignoring the bickering couple, Remus turned to the first years and commanded them to the dormitories in voice filled with such authority that no one dared to disobey. He shot Lily an accusing look but she was too busy screaming her lungs out at James to even notice the reproach. Remus knew there was no point in waiting for the girl so he just shrugged and left.

He was already a good few meters away when he heard quick footsteps behind him. He turned his head to see Sirius walking in his direction. Remus slowed his pace to let the black-haired boy catch up with him. As Sirius did, they started to walk side by side without speaking and with Remus glancing at him questioningly every once in a while. But Sirius' head remained lowered, his eyes tracing the pattern of dark lines on the marble floor. Before Remus came up with something to say, the other boy whispered, his voice flat, "I just didn't want to be alone."

"What's going on?" The golden-eyed boy was concerned. He knew that something really awful must have happened to put Sirius, the always high-spirited all-smiling Sirius, in such a mood. For the first time in his life he didn't see even a trace of playful gleam in Sirius' now shadowy eyes, no elfish grin on his face. But how come? Sirius was the most difficult person to be thrown out of balance that Remus knew. He was always the first to help James recover after Lily's rejection or to cheer Remus up after whenever Snape started spreading hateful rumours. He was Sirius; joy was an essential part of his being. "What's wrong?"

"How was your summer, Remmy?" he asked a bit too airily, though his eyes stayed gloomy and uninterested. "You didn't mention anything about it."

"You're changing the subject," said matter-of-factly Remus, looking at him anxiously. They had been friends for too long now to overlook even the slightest change in the other's behaviour. And Sirius' features had changed so drastically during the summer. He was paler, his clothes loose-fitting… Even his famous grin, when he at last managed one, wasn't reaching his eyes.

"No, I'm not," he muttered, more to himself than to the other boy. A hesitant silence fell upon them for several seconds before Sirius turned a tormented gaze to his friend. Plain misery and sadness were pouring from his eyes, gloomy atmosphere falling over them almost instantly. Sirius seemed to be so thoughtful, so lost. "She's just being so difficult, judgemental. She despises me no matter what," Remus couldn't pretend he didn't know who his friend was talking about. His mother. "I know I've been repeating it for the past five years… It's just… this summer's been nightmarish… dreadful."

In a flash Remus' world drastically narrowed. Suddenly the prefects' meetings, damn it, even the other people didn't matter a thing. He had to help his friend. No matter what sacrifices it meant, no matter how much trouble it would cause later. Because that is how a real friendship works.

"Ever since Bellatrix joined him she's been nagging me… tyrannising me to do the same," At this point his voice abruptly broke, trembling words could have been heard merely seconds later. "It was agonising. To know that she urges me… she wants me to become a… a murderer. A monster." With every word his voice was becoming louder and harsher, yet his eyes were still the hurt eyes of a child.

Remus stopped his pace and was watching the other boy with growing horror. Was it too late? Too late to fix anything? He could see it clearly; the thoughts, the words, the emotions were suppressed for far too long. It was eating Sirius from the inside. Remus was waiting for an explosion. But it never came. There was only silence. He wasn't sure which of them would have been worse. No, he perfectly knew.

Because any emotion would be better than a lack of them. Deep down he hated the mask of indifference that Sirius wore whenever he was broken, but he couldn't do anything about it. And he had tried. What he didn't know, though, was that Sirius never showed his feelings only because of him. Because he knew that Remus had enough to deal with without him getting out of control. Him breaking down. So neither of them spoke.

"Sirius -," Remus managed after a while and trailed off. For once he was out of words. Silence. He wanted to say something, anything. Even a stupid _everything's going to be all right_, _we'll fix it_, that silly barefaced lie. He knew words wouldn't fix anything, they both knew it. And Sirius didn't expect them from him, nor from anybody else.

"I'm not sure I'll be able to come back…" whispered Sirius eventually, barely audibly.

Remus reached and pulled him into tight embrace and said firmly, "We'll always be here for you, you know, all of us."

Those simple words were more comforting to Sirius than anything in the world, because he knew, deep down, that they were real. That they were true. He pulled away and smiled weakly.

Yet neither one of them thought of coming back to the Common Room. The atmosphere of joyfulness and happiness flowing around would be too much for anyone after a conversation like that.

Without saying a word they walked out of the castle and headed towards the Forbidden Forest. After such a long time they didn't even have to discuss the matter already knowing what the other one would say. There were many unsaid words of comfort and agreement hovering in the air each never to be spoken aloud. Not because they were unimportant or trivial. There was just no need to express them, the feeling of their presence was sufficient, just enough to console and give strength to go on, to face the reality.

As they walked, hands in pockets, every once in a while kicking small pebbles lying around on the ground, they still hadn't uttered a word. Yet the silence was still comforting and calming and Remus couldn't help but wonder why they had headed exactly for the Forbidden Forest. Filled with old coarse trunks, with shadows forming in the crooks of the rind and thick fog claiming the air so greedily that it was almost hard to breathe, this forest seemed the last place anyone would want to take a walk to.

But it seemed to be more mysterious and scary than their life itself, to say the least. Being there made them think how small and insignificant their problems were, minimising them to practically non-existence. And it felt righteous, coaxing Sirius harassed nerves and letting his frustration burn out. And both of them needed comfort and sedation, a reassurance that no words would provide.

They realised how hard this year would be. And the ones to follow. And they were clinging to the bits and pieces of carelessness and forgetfulness that had been left in them. After all, they were just teenagers. The upcoming situation was too much to any one of them; the light-heartedness was being substituted with concern. It felt like somebody had woken you up from a pleasant dream, a dream of happy untroubled life, and brought you back into reality. The gloomy reality of the frightened world.

"Shit!" Sirius' angry cry broke the silence quite spectacularly coming out from him mouth after kicking a deliberately thick tree-trunk in an act of absolute rage. No harm made to the plant; it was Sirius' foot I would be concerned about. He was then standing in an utterly ridiculous pose (or jumping, to be precise), with his injured foot in his hands, muttering curses of which existence Remus had never heard of.

"Would have told you that would happen if you asked me," said Remus, playful sparks in his golden eyes. Sirius just shot him a meaningful look, the shut-up-and-help-me meaningful look but Remus just stood there leaning against the trunk of an old willow and laughing freely.

"Not funny," muttered Sirius and added something about breaking his friend's bones to see how amusing it would be. So their stroll definitively ended there, though still they had to get inside unnoticed. And sell some likeable story to the nurse, Madame Pomfrey. After all, only Sirius could break something already on his first day of school.

As their day ended and they went to bed, after Sirius had convinced Madame Pomfrey in a rather charming manner, with a possible yet not so probable story, to help him. It was the beginning of the school year, an event that actually everyone truly anticipated throughout the summer, some more and others less, but comeback was still long awaited. For one it was an escape from their past and their problems, for the other it meant forgetting, for ten months, that the world outside really existed, with all its imperfections and inequalities. One could say that only in Hogwarts they felt noticed and cared about. The other one could say it was a place where they could show off, but it would be a white lie. Since the reason why the school was so important in their life was so much more complex. But for everybody it meant spending ten months with people they loved, their friends.

And soon they would forget all of their concerns thrown into the whirl of homework, constant pranks and practical jokes. The world of Quidditch games and Butterbeer. The world where your friends are always there to cheer you up without even telling them about the breakdown you are suffering. The world where your friends just simply **__****are**. Always would be. And that was it, a homecoming.

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_AUTHOR'S NOTE: Writing this took us much longer than we originally thought it would. The story is more complex this time and we hope you like it. We promise a cookie for everyone who reviews. Yet the biggest one goes to our Beta Reader – dogstar-ebony. Danielle, we absolutely adore you! Thank you so much for helping us._


	2. Check Mate

_DISCLAIMER_**: **_We do not own Harry Potter, the characters or anything related to it. However, we do own our imagination as well as our OC._

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"I have major prankster's block," whined Sirius, looking completely devastated by that fact. Numerous rolls of parchment were piled up in his lap, and let me assure you they were not homework. While the raven-haired boy was playing with the papers his friends were laughing at him openly.

"It's not even a word," said James, not even trying to contain the huge grin playing on his lips.

"It is," muttered Sirius defensively, making his famous pout. But, to his misfortune, that facial expression caused another surge of laughter. He looked at his friends with an utterly comical look of disappointment and misery written on his face.

"Since when?"

"Since now!" growled Sirius, resembling an extremely infuriated dog at the moment. The other boys shot him a questioning look, wanting to voice their doubts of Sirius' mental health but he silenced them with one gesture. "It's _the first__day_ of classes and we haven't come up with one single prank!"

"So…?" before Sirius had a chance to snap back the talker continued untroubled. "At least you haven't made anyone cry today. Really, we must mark it in the calendar as a new holiday!" Remus' answer was sardonic to say at least, yet playful sparkles were dancing in the depth of his eyes. Of course, he didn't mean even a word he said. Deep down he knew Sirius was right with this one and even him being a Prefect didn't change a thing. Or rather as his friend would say – _especially _him being a Prefect didn't change a thing.

It was like a ritual to them; every year they had to come up with a frolic at the first day of classes. One single day and one single prank defined their whole year. One could believe that a particular birthday was that day; for others it was New Year, and some would say it was a superficial and dumb thing to believe at all. But still, to them that one prank meant the world and no matter what the circumstances were they never would, _could, _forget their tradition.

That's why they ended up sitting in the dormitory at 4 p.m. And it really did mean something. Usually at this time Remus would be sitting in the library doing all the homework they had or simply reading for pleasure, hidden from his noisy (and nosy) friends. James and Sirius judging their love to Quidditch would be practicing to the upcoming game – which was probably in two months. And Peter, poor always forgotten little Peter, would be either sitting on a bench watching his friends play or trying to do a potions essay but unfortunately failing rather miserably considering his poor knowledge of the subject.

Even if they didn't have all those chores to do, still they would linger in the corridors talking or messing around in The Common Room, their Dormitory being the last place on earth they would end up before midnight. But special means times call for special measures and that occasion could easily be called exceptional.

When they came there all eyes set upon Sirius who usually had the entire plan prepared before he even thought about it. Only this time it was different. He was sitting there completely devastated by the fact of being incapable of thinking up any prank that would make sense. That means any prank at all. He just looked at his friends desperately, whining all the time, and practically not doing a thing. Now, two hours later they were still stuck at exactly the same spot they were from the start. Meaning: not having even the slightest idea what to do.

James on the other hand was thinking about all the pranks they had put in action before and trying to recall any reasonable back-up plan, realizing, utterly broken, that they never had any. Always having at least ten ideas at once they never once bothered to write down unused ones as they surely could not have been good enough.

When it comes to Remus, he was sitting on his bed, extremely quiet, and that was definitely not a good sign. This time of the year was one of the few when he actually was helping his friends to prepare the pranks to be ideal. Usually he was standing out of their way, scolding them whenever the idea might have been harmful for their surroundings or praising them if the conception turned out to be another success and show of their brilliance.

Yet now, Remus was so deep in thoughts that his friends were beginning to worry. For a moment they were trying to catch his attention but with no visible effect. Sirius was muttering something about that whenever needed Remus did nothing but space out. But, of course it meant nothing more just simple completely harmless teasing.

"If you want to have anything done can you all just shut up?" The golden-haired boy didn't even bother to fix them with a look and the dormitory suddenly was wrapped in dead silence. Not even one whisper was uttered and breaths seemed to stop just in case they would be a bother. It was as if someone had pressed mute because still both Sirius and James were making absolutely disarming faces to each other, a wide range of expressions, ranging from looks of desperation to utter amusement. Remus meanwhile started to write down a plan that had occurred all of the sudden in his head.

It seemed almost unreal. In a split of second it all became crystal clear. Everything – what they needed to do and how it all should be done. It seemed almost foolish that they had such a hard time when an oh-so-simple plan was within their reach. Okay, perhaps it was not entirely easy since it would cost them another sleepless night and most definitely a big amount of planning. As well as a difficult research that they did not exactly have time for. Well, all those unfavourable circumstances did not seem to seem to be a big threat – just another challenge and an interesting one. And they loved challenges.

Just one little question here… - _How to make it all work?_

Without even bothering to raise his eyes from the paper the golden-haired boy started to give orders for the others to follow. "First of all Peter, go to the 3rd floor and count how many armours there are. We need thirty-two pieces, so if there won't be enough look for some nearby." Without even a word Wormtail sprinted out of the room, overly excited since it was not so often he had got a thing to do just by himself. Others must have thought it was silly order to obey, yet he did not seem to mind it at all. For him it meant that his friends had some faith in him to actually depend on him in any way, no matter how small. Right now in his head there was no place for food, only the current mission seemed to be important enough to be present in his thoughts.

Back in the room Remus continued to tell his friends what to do and it was not such an ordinary sight. Especially not when it came to their prankster life. He was in charge of the whole escapade and for once he did not seem to mind. "You two should go to the Transfiguration Section of the library and see if you can find something useful there. Oh, and on your way Sirius, please, go and catch up with Peeves and tell him that he might be of help tonight." He seemed to be done yet there was still something left in the hook.

"And where is _your_ part in the whole plan?" asked James on their way out.

"I'll stay here and prepare the rest and then join you in the library to see how the preparation's going," Remus replied smoothly. It seemed to be fair enough as the two boys left the room without any other word, heading for the East Wing.

It was not a challenge for Sirius to find Peeves the Poltergeist as anywhere the first years were he could be easily found. This time was not different and the shouts sounding evidently much louder in one of the corridors soon led him to the ghost.

Peeves had already accepted the four's superiority over him and as talking with a master of mischief was much more appealing than harassing a bunch of absolutely harmless eleven-year-olds the Poltergeist saw no objection in following Sirius to the first empty classroom they could find. "Peeves, are you still up to torment our dear Filch a bit?" Sirius decided to start the conversation as innocently as he could, just to whet the ghost's appetite. And exactly as he expected a mischievous spark appeared in the coal-black eyes. "Then, here's what you've got to do…"

The chubby boy was walking through the portrait hole holding a bunch of sketches. Although it seemed to take terribly long for the boy to come back, or so Remus thought, it could not take any minute less. For once Peter had actually taken the initiative to put down on a piece of paper all of the armours that would be needed. He knew that there was absolutely no possibility for him to remember every dark corner of Hogwarts where those not so useful pieces of rusty iron were put. Moreover, they didn't exactly plan to get caught and working with the light on was not exactly wanted. Therefore, a map of their working area might have been handy.

"I think we deserve a hefty dinner," said James some time later in their dormitory, grinning brightly and stretching. At once, every one of them was reminded of a certain nagging feeling in their stomachs that could be nothing more than hunger. It was true: they hadn't eaten a thing since breakfast and that was ages ago. How Peter had not whined about being hungry all that time would remain a mystery forever.

True, the time flew by quickly in times like those when they were too preoccupied to bother themselves with anything unconnected to their task. It was not too often either, when such important events occurred, but when they did they were always celebrated properly later on. After a well-organized prank it was always a feast for them.

But right now every one of them was hungry and felt the same ping of excitement that always appeared before an extremely interesting or difficult prank. And that one met both qualities mentioned before. Moreover, it looked as if it would be by far their best achievement.

The supper on the first day of classes never seemed to change, all students happily chattering about everything that was about to come, their hopes and joys of the upcoming school year. The first years were jabbering with sparkling eyes, still taking in the beauty of their new home, talking endlessly about all those new teachers, courses they were to take up… It was always the same; still wide-eyed the children were watching everything with interest and listening to all exciting stories of Hogwarts. And those stories seemed to never end. Every once in the while one of those eleven-year-olds would point at the four boys sitting by the Gryffindors' table, looking at them completely awed by all those histories they already had heard. Everybody was asking themselves when they would finally see one of the pranks which that four was so famous for.

Yet presently the boys were too excited and caught up in talking to pay any attention to the surrounding. The vision of the following morning was almost delightful. Enough for James to nearly overlook Lily walking by no more than ten inches from his back and discussing something vigorously with her friends Isabelle Barnes and Angelica McLean. And again the black-haired boy was suffocating as his breath forced itself back to his lungs at the beauty of the girl.

Then Sirius' voice interrupted his thoughts, "Hi there, Lily, Isabelle… Angelica," he added hesitantly, as he wasn't sure if she wouldn't make any nasty comment. "We were just talking about our vocational adventures. Care to join?" he finished with a huge grin on his lips and pushed James aside so hard, to make some sitting space on the bench, that the poor boy almost fell.

Before Lily had any chance to protest Isabelle had already given a positive answer and was dragging them to sit with the boys. For redhead it appeared to be hell and she was damn sure that any person in the school knew it, let alone Isabelle. Therefore, there might have been quite a lot of bad consequences for the delinquent later on. Angela for her part really did not mind sitting with the mischievous four, laugh at their jokes and talk for some time. Although, she knew that a fight awaited them after leaving such an interesting company. But to tell the truth she didn't care all that much. And as long as she would remain silent and it would be just between Lily and Isabelle their friendship would survive.

As the talk went on, they came to enjoy the others company so much that boys actually lost their track of time and forgot about their duties for the night and about practice they needed before the upcoming prank. That one talk absorbed them so much that even Lily was civil while talking to James, and that was kind of achievement on his part. But of course the charm couldn't last forever.

"So, what's the prank for tonight?" Isabelle didn't know how much chaos she would cause by asking that particular question or she might have never done it. Or at least not that loudly. Suddenly the whole good spirit of the evening just vanished. Those students who were sitting most closely to them passed the question to their neighbours and soon dead silence fell upon the whole table.

All eyes were now fixed on the four as they waited, breaths drawn-in, for the answer. No one had ever dared to ask such a question; the prank for the beginning of the year was kept a secret until the very moment of "performance". Yet the curiosity took over the students and they remained silent instead of doing what they had always been doing in situations like that – and that meant protecting their fellows.

Since their first year at Hogwarts the four was famous. No student could say that they didn't care about the boys and their mischief, you could either like them or not. But you just couldn't stay indifferent. Of course, the Gryffindors took the four boys in with open arms, making no complaints and protecting them from the teachers every time, no matter whether the prank was aimed at them or the students of other Houses. It was a great solidarity that bounded them, all the Gryffindors. It made them feel strong as a unity and well taken-care-of as individuals. And shy voices of objection, if there ever were any, were soon drowned in the atmosphere of general approbation.

The four boys were instantly reminded of where they should have been and what they should have been doing. They felt stupid and irresponsible, if one could feel bad about making no trouble. What were they thinking?! They had barely three hours left and they were sitting here, jabbering and laughing, instead of working. But how to get out of the Great Hall unnoticed? With all those eyes on them and the silence it was impossible. Suddenly a way out appeared. Isabelle pulled out "The Daily Prophet" out of nowhere and began to read aloud. If there was any topic more interesting than the four's pranks the girl had just raised it. At the same time all the Gryffindors started to talk. With raised voices and shining eyes students tried to shout down their colleagues to express their opinions. Crimes of Lord Voldemort bothered and outraged everyone highly those days. Nothing was going to stop the discussion anymore.

Sirius had to admit that Isabelle knew what she was doing. The girl was witty and, damn, he liked that. Only thanks to her they could leave without being noticed. "And about the prank, Izzy," he bent down to her ear and whispered, "You're going to find out soon enough."

The girl turned to shoot him a surprised look but all she managed to see before he left was a huge grin playing on his perfect lips.

Even though on the outside Sirius was smiling, internally he was already counting up their lost time and planning how to make up for it. Schematically they already had known what their positions would be and their tasks too. Somehow it wasn't as simple as that, not at all. They all had to use the spells they never even encountered before, let alone used them. Moreover, they still had to worry about both teachers and Mr. Filch to interrupt them. And if that happened it would all be gone, both their fun and looks of surprise they wanted to see on students' faces. Since they would be simply priceless.

Both Sirius and James were going through every single spell again, James fighting and failing miserably to stop thinking of a certain redhead. No matter how hard he would try to throw her face out of his mind he simply could not even though he knew he should have. What if she thought it was just another one of his idiocies he made? Didn't she see he had already done everything for her, was willing to change, yet he saw no reason to do it since the girl would not give him a chance. No, that was definitely not the right time to think of Lily Evans.

They had been working hard, that's true, but the atmosphere was full of excitement and hope. Smiles never seemed to leave their faces; jokes were told and laughed at. They hadn't didn't noticed the passing time until the old wooden clock in Gryffindors' Common Room tolled 11 p.m. The boys shared a quick glance as if saying: _adventure, here we go._ Just quiet 'good lucks' were uttered and off they went, each to their task.

The following morning started just as peacefully as ever. Nothing in the castle indicated that that particular Friday would be different from any other. The building seemed to be completely abandoned since there was absolutely nobody in the corridors. It was quite an extraordinary sight for a place where more than a thousand people lived. The only odd thing in the picture was a group of boys slowly heading towards the corridor on the fourth floor completely undisturbed by the fact that they were actually late. They were had been up all night but their tiredness didn't seem to be overwhelming enough to prevent them from talking vigorously. Suddenly they were interrupted by another voice.

"Hi boys," exclaimed Angela walking quickly toward them. "I guess we're not having Transfiguration today! The entrance to the class is blocked! Someone has put a giant chessboard there and the chessmen won't let anybody in."

"A giant chessboard?" asked James with fake disbelief in his voice. "Who could have done such a thing?" He was having great difficulty suppressing a laughter that was building up in his throat, yet somehow he managed to keep up a straight face. "What are we going to do then?" He couldn't help but wonder if Filch would be the one to clear up the mess they had caused.

"McGonagall has sent me to Dumbledore's Office. She said he would know what to do.," Tthe girl most definitely wasn't affected about not having the most demanding class of all in the tiniest bit. They were silent for a moment then Angela looked around and whispered to the boys, "You did a great job, you know? I'm really impressed. Who would have expected that even old McGonagall wouldn't be able to cope with a little prank," she grinned brightly and headed downstairs.

The boys shared a quick glance then ran towards the crowd that surrounded the effect result of their full -night's work. As they were approaching, excited whispers rose among the group of students and barely anyone could stay quiet. The four was welcomed with many pats on the shoulders and several cheers that accidentally escaped someone's mouth.

Professor McGonagall stood closest to the chessboard, looking quite helpless; and, from time to time, casting stern looks towards the loudest students. She could not help but throw an accusing look at the pranksters yet she did not take any action though it was completely obvious for her too who were the authors of the said prank. It was a miracle in fact that she did not send Remus a resentful look since he was a prefect and he should have known better than to help his friends with breaking the rules. And to think that the first week of classes was not yet over!

The chessboard looked even more majestic in the daylight. Two rows of chessmen stood firmly on their places, swords crossed so as not to let anyone pass. The four boys were immensely proud of themselves. Just to think that during one night they had managed to achieve so much!

Suddenly a passage appeared in the crowd of students and Albus Dumbledore came through it to stop by Professor McGonagall's side. All whispers fell silent at once and everyone's eyes fixed on the tall figure.

The headmaster moved his glasses up his nose and bent a bit to have a closer look at the giant chessboard. "Well, well, well," he murmured after a while. "We have a really nice piece of Transfiguration here, I must say. The one who made it must be a very talented wizard."

Professor McGonagall shot him a surprised look. "Albus, I don't think it's the right time to dwell upon the abilities of whoever have done this," she said, but the headmaster only smiled in reply. "We cannot allow ourselves to neglect the rules and let some pranksters bring chaos into the school life without any punishment! I can't imagine what would –,"

"Minerva," the headmaster interrupted her calmly. He was still smiling lightly as if he was having the most pleasant conversation ever. "I absolutely agree with you in the case of punishing the principals of that… inconvenience, yet now I would recommend us all to think of a way to get into the classroom." He turned to face the students, who were still looking at him wide-eyed and silent. "Has anyone any idea?"

A murmur could be heard as everyone started to discuss what to do. Only four boys who were standing in the first line in front of the headmaster didn't say a word. They were looking at him intently as if searching for a verdict in the expression on his face. When Dumbledore noticed it he smiled more widely. His bright blue eyes seemed to say: _You have had your chance. Now let the others try their strengths too. _Reassured, the boys remained quiet.

"Maybe to pass through we have to win the game?" said a hesitant voice from the back of the crowd.

"Excellent, Miss Barnes!" exclaimed Dumbledore cheerfully and waved his hand at Isabelle to come closer. The brunette moved to push through the mass. As she got closer Sirius couldn't help but smile.

"Now," said the headmaster. "Can you play chess?" The girl just nodded.

* * *

_AUTHOR'S_ _NOTE_: You might not be aware of it, but this story is actually a co-written one. As Carol has to work on her NaNoWriMo novel, tonight I'm in charge of publishing the new chapter and therefore writing this note. Again, Danielle, thank you, thank you, thank you for putting up with us!

I hope you liked it and if you did, press the grey review button below. Constructive criticism is more than welcome.

Take care everyone,

Sonia.


	3. James Potter's Human Side

_DISCLAIMER_**: **_We do not own Harry Potter, the characters or anything related to it. However, we do own our imagination as well as our OC._

_

* * *

_The doors to the girls' dorms swung open and Lily Evans entered The Common Room, her eyes glowing dangerously, wand raised. She quickly spotted an innocently snoring boy, who was lying on the couch with his nose stuck between pages of an open book. The redhead rushed toward him, muttering curses under her breath.

"_Aguamenti._" A stream of water flooded all over poor sleeping Peter Pettigrew, who woke up with a start, screaming and unsuccessfully trying to save his books from destruction.

"Where the hell is Potter?" Lily hissed.

"My potions essay, it's all ruined! And it's due to tomorrow!" whined the chubby boy. Seeing the work of his whole afternoon demolished didn't exactly make his day. And there_ were_ other places he should be right now, like with his friends. "What was that for?"

"I don't care about your bloody essay, Pettigrew. Just tell me where that idiot Potter is!" Lily shouted, tiny red sparks erupting from the end of her wand warningly. Peter for his part was too terrified to think clearly so he just kept staring at her with his eyes wide and mouth formed in the shape of an O."You will tell me, you little _rat_!"

At those words Peter shivered - _how does she know?_ - but he muttered something incoherently.

"What? Speak up!" In the matter of seconds Lily's wand was on Peter's chest, what surely would leave some bruises, and he felt completely petrified, words stuck in his throat.

"In the Re-req-quirement Room," he managed at last, stammering. Lily ran out without even a word of apology.

A thought of warning James and Sirius crossed his mind for a brief second, yet the vision of their Potions teacher, professor Horace Slughorn, taking points from the House was too overwhelming. And so Peter had to work hard to recall all the Drying Spells they had learnt in their third year to put them into action. As the vision of starting to write the essay from the scratch wasn't appealing at all he sat there for a long time trying different spells to save his filled with book definitions composition.

When he finally managed to make the parchment look exactly as it did before the encounter with Lily he realised that it was much too late to run to his friends, to actually warn them about the storm that was about to hit, he felt a ping of regret in his chest. Yet he made no move towards the door; looking accusingly at the paper before him, he laid on the crimson and too comfortable to resist resting in sofa and closed his eyes. _I'll lose my eyes just a moment and then do something more useful._ A moment later loud snores filled the room.

Meanwhile, in the aforementioned room James Potter and his friend, Sirius Black, were practising their transformation into Animagi as they had been doing for the last three years. Every once in a while (and definitely more often than their teachers would hope) they used to skip classes and lock themselves up in the first abandoned classroom they could possibly find, spending long hours desperately trying to improve their abilities. But it's not like they remembered about their little private sessions only when the full moon was approaching for they didn't. Every spare moment was devoted to that, their most difficult and most highly-desired goal, despite the fact that numerous homework and exhausting Quidditch trainings effectively limited their leisure time. And being school's greatest pranksters also had its consequences.

Of course those were not the only problems they had to face. What was even more important, the whole transformation was extremely difficult and dangerous. One wrong move and they might have got seriously injured and it was not exactly their aim. Every time something went wrong they had to deal with the consequences of their actions as, for example, going around the school with animal limbs, which was not something normal, even in a wizardry school.

It all started quite a while ago, in the beginning of the second year, when they found out that their friend, Remus Lupin, was not only one of the brightest students in the year group but also a werewolf. They were fed up with his constant excuses that he was going to visit his sick mother, or attending his grandfather's funeral. After all, how many grandpas could one person have? And so, being the people they were, they started to observe Remus more carefully. Sirius even started a special "Padfoot's Notepad" where he wrote down all his conclusions.

***

One day, almost four years ago, Sirius dragged James and Peter to The Requirement Room in the middle of breakfast. Despite Peter's complaints about the fact he was missing out on really good food and James' quizzical looks he didn't say a word until they reached their destination.

"He's a werewolf," Sirius finally burst out.

"He's a - WHAT?!" James looked more lost than ever.

"You know, we-re-wolf, full moon and so on." When James only looked at him incredulously, Sirius pressed on. "He's got a little furry problem!"

"But who?" inquired Wormtail, but no one was actually listening to him, as his friends were excitedly consulting every thing they knew about werewolves and comparing conclusions.

When Sirius saw the oblivious expression on Pete's face he said quickly, "Oh, Peter, you little idiot, Remmy of course!"

"Bloody hell, that explains a lot. How did you figure it out?" asked the still-startled James, completely ignoring Pete's comment.

"That was simple, he's always tired and bruised after his little escapades, not to mention the fact he's always going out during the full moon, this little Moony of ours," said Sirius grinning. Giving nicknames to his friends had always come easily to him, and not even realising it, he made up a name that they would still use years after that conversation."Coincidence, of course, right?"

James smiled back at him knowingly, but Peter still looked quite amazed by the creative abilities of his friend. "So what are we doing now?" he finally managed.

"What do you mean?" asked James, already very excited. "We, my dear gentlemen, are going to help him!"

"But how?" Peter was as clueless as ever. How could he help his werewolf friend when he hardly managed to pass his exams...? Perhaps he should buy him some chocolate or something, he though and drifting into more pleasure dreams which contained lots of pumpkin pies, whipped cream and definitely _no_ werewolves.

***

And that's how they ended up, three years later, practicing every weekend whenever none of them had a date, preparing their little Animagi gift for Remus. They had to be extremely secretive since they didn't want to spoil the surprise but when the next full moon approached they would finally be ready to accompany him to the Shrieking Shack where Remmy told them he went every month. That would be their birthday present for him.

All of a sudden there was a loud slam as Lily burst furiously into the room. Pure rage made her face glow and her eyes sparkle. Completely startled, James stared at her, taking in her beauty, completely oblivious to her current mood. His daydream of a cosy home, wild sex and lots of babies was shattered by the high-pitched voice of the redhead. _This cannot be good_, he thought.

"You filthy animal, you complete idiot, what the hell did you do with my..." Lily was well on her way to bursting her lungs simply from yelling but suddenly she stopped, struck by what was going on before her eyes. "Why the hell do you have antlers?"

James looked puzzled and shot a begging look to Sirius who was laughing uncontrollably. _He's never much of a help when needed_, thought James resentfully. "Oh, I do?" he asked with fake astonishment written on his face.

"Yup, don't act so surprised," said Sirius in between laughs. "After all, you are Prongs."

At first everyone was intrigued with those nicknames they had, asking all the time what was the origin yet they never gave the real answer. Even Remus after a while of inquiring where the names came from gave up, seeing he would not achieve a thing. A thought of his friends doing something as stupid as becoming Animagi did cross his mind. But who would believe in such a thing, even Sirius and James were not that irresponsible.

_Thanks mate, that helps a damn lot. I hope you have a good reason for that,_ thought James angrily.

Obviously Sirius didn't as he was just improvising to get them some more time to think up a clever excuse. "Well, my dear Miss Evans," he finally started, "You caught us red-handed, what can we say to defend ourselves? Surely your call of duty will lead you now to one of our professors, to whom you'll sincerely confess our little secret, which turns up to be nothing more than a little gift to cheer up our recently so badly-experienced friend. Now, what do you say?" At this point Sirius lowered his head in fake sadness.

Lily shifted nervously, not really knowing how to respond to that one before reminding herself why she was there and saying, "If you would finally stop marauding and tell me what you had done with my bloody diary…"

James and Sirius exchanged a significant look. "Marauders," a sudden realization hit them at the same time as they both cheerfully shouted, "Lily, you're a genius!"

The emerald-eyed girl gave them a puzzled look and started hesitantly "As to my diary…" making the boys' smiles fade instantly.

"We don't have it." James' voice came hard and somewhat hurt.

"And even if we had it, we wouldn't tell you, would we?" Sirius logically pointed out, swinging his wand indifferently.

Lily just stared at them for a while then stormed out without a word, shutting the door with such a force that the mirror hanging on the nearest wall shuttered into millions of tiny pieces. Sudden silence in the room became awkward. Sirius thought about a little black book which one of Lily's friends had shown him earlier. "Quite an interesting read if you want to know. Very surprising…" she had said, grinning at Sirius.

"I don't think that a simple _Reparo_ can fix that," James said hesitantly. And he didn't mean only his prongs.

It was a rollercoaster ride, with the two of them. One day she would actually praise him with a smile, and those days were the best ones in James' dictionary, and the other time she would shout at him all day long, just because of a single glance he dared to have at her. Yet whenever he came to talk to her, no matter what he would do, James _always_ did something wrong, grinned at her too cheekily or what he said had a wrong note in it, a tone of conceitedness, and Lily just couldn't stand it. Still, James wasn't willing to give up on his favourite redhead and kept trying to win her heart over.

Sirius considered something for a moment then he looked up. "I'll be right back," he said and sprinted out of the room.

James just shrugged. "Sure, why not. I'll stay here all alone and search for some cure for my poor prongs," he sighed and scratched the antlers that were now adorning his head.

Sirius reached the Gryffindor tower in barely two minutes, beating his own personal record by thirteen seconds, and hoping that the girl he was looking for was inside. To his great disappointment the only person present in the Common Room was sleeping Peter, again.

"Pete," shouted Sirius, already impatient, his breath ragged from the run. The sleeping boy covered up his ears and mumbled something about, yes, you got it right – sleep, incoherently. Slightly irritated Sirius tilted his head shooting Peter an apologetic look. "_Rictusempra_."

If there was any way of waking worse that being tickled to death, Peter didn't know about it. His body was suddenly twisting on the couch, taking sudden breaths in between bursts of hysterical laughter. "Stop," he cried at last and the charm stopped at once. "Why always me?" he grumbled unhappily. "Isn't it possible to get same well-earned sleep in this damn castle?"

"Where's Isabelle?" Sirius ignored Peters' nasty comment and looked at the poor boy impatiently. He could deal with Peter later: now the most important thing was to find Isabelle. And Lily's diary, of course. There must be something good written in it and perhaps… if Lily's so determined to get it back, so was he. Peter glared at him and muttered. "Try the library."

When the words came out of Peters' mouth Sirius was already by the portrait hole shouting "Thank you, mate," in Peter's direction. This time he didn't have to flee as if a Dementor was chasing him. After all she was just a girl, and damn right, he knew to deal with them all. With an already planned conversation in his mind he slammed the library's door hard against the frame and many heads shot up, hushing him with accusing looks in their eyes. He searched through the tables looking for a certain chestnut-haired girl. When he spotted her he walked slowly, until he was just a few steps away and grinning slightly.

Girls definitely weren't anything new to him. Thanks to James' obsession with Lily, which he developed in their first year, Sirius started to value females' features quite early. The feeling seemed mutual. He couldn't fail to notice their reaction to him, which included delighted sighs when he was looking at them, fluttering eyelashes and sudden clumsiness. Sirius knew he had some amount of power over girls and also knew how to use it well. Despite all these facts he took a deep breath before stepped forward.

"Why, hello Isabelle," said Sirius in his special low 'mature' voice, reserved only for girls. "Mind if I take you a minute?" Isabelle jerked her head up from the book she was reading. When she saw the raven-haired boy she set herself up and smiled.

"Course not. What is it?" she asked.

"I was wondering if you still have this diary you showed me in the morning. I think I might be actually interested in reading it." He placed his hand on the table just behind the girl and leaned closer towards her.

"You came around eventually?" Isabelle turned to look Sirius in the eyes. He nodded. _The girl has a temper_. "Okay, but you'll have to give me something in return for the favour," she winked at him, "A date. Next Hogsmeade weekend when we don't have such a freaky amount of homework to do." The girl tilted her head toward the table, which was groaning under the weight of thick dusty books and unrolled parchments.

"I'll let you know," Sirius replied, a bit uneasily. Why that could be, he didn't have the slightest idea. Isabelle didn't seem to notice the change in his tone and added:

"As for the diary. Let's meet at midnight in the Common Room."

"Very well then. I'll leave you now." The girl threw him a surprised look. "I'm sure you have a lot to do and I won't disturb." Sirius said by way of explanation and with those words he left the library.

He headed to the Requirement Room planning to help James to get rid of his deer form's resemblance. On his way up there he ran across - what a coincidence - Remus and a slightly irritated James, unfortunately or fortunately, he couldn't decide, without prongs. They were discussing something, the boy in glasses gesticulating furiously while the other shaking his head in an I'm-sure-you-did manner. Whatever James was up to couldn't be good, at least for Sirius if not for himself. The last time Sirius saw him so hyper they all ended up getting a detention. One full month of detention. Cleaning up bathrooms without magic wasn't exactly his favourite activity in the world. No excuses, no mercy. _Not again!_

He walked to them waving and smirking, trying not to look suspicious. He failed of course, as his friends knew him better than he knew himself.

"Sirius, where were you?" exclaimed Remus as he approached. He seemed to be annoyed and looked as if he wanted to hit Sirius with the book he was holding in his hand. A very thick book, I might add. "We've been looking for you everywhere!" _Oh, obviously,_ thought Sirius, meaning James. The golden-eyed boy continued, pure sarcasm in his voice, "Some bloody Slytherin had grown antlers on James' head and I had to remove them."

_Slytherin? I wouldn't accuse you of such creativity, Prongs._ Sirius grinned at the black-haired boy at what James could only shrug. It wasn't a particularly good excuse, at least not for such a smart person as Remus. _He suspects something's going on_. Sirius wasn't happy with that thought. Now they would have to make up another story to quieten his suspicions. But to Sirius' relieve or perhaps disappointment Remus dropped the subject. _That_ again was strange.

"Anyway, James just told me about some diary. What's going on?" Remus asked, curiosity in his voice.

"How much do you know by now?" As the golden-haired boy answered Sirius started to tell the whole story, of course skipping the part when they were practicing in the Requirement Room, as they continued through corridors toward the lawns.

And later, when they reached the lake he told them about his genius plan, omitting such unimportant details as his upcoming date. Sirius expected James to be at least happy, if not exhilarated. The scolding look he received from Remus didn't surprise him at all; it was James' face that suddenly made him stop speaking.

Bewildered, James looked at his best friend disbelievingly, not knowing whether to jump for joy or smack his friend's head with en extremely heavy object. Sirius' words were still ringing in his ears as clearly as if now spoken and would haunt him for the next weeks.

"You did... WHAT?"

James must have picked the second option. An hour ago he was convincing, or rather miserably trying to convince, Lily that he had absolutely nothing to do with disappearance of her diary and now... "She's going to kill us, literally kill us, when she finds out!"

"_If _she finds out, Prongs. Don't be such a drama queen," mocked him Sirius. "Oh come on!" He was practically dragging the black-haired boy back to the Common Room even though they still had plenty of time to get there. Five hours, to be exact.

"James is right," Remus said, looking up from behind his book. He needed to stop them before the situation had a chance to get out of hands. To be honest, he did it quite often. "Sirius, don't you think that James' chances to actually ever date Lily would drop quite drastically if she caught him red-handed?" _If he has any_, this unspoken sentence was hanging in the chilly autumn air.

"Why do you care so much, Prongs?" The question was out of Sirius' lips before he could think twice. He almost suspected James, today's edgy and unpredictable James, to pounce on him or at least hex him. But none of it happened. "Why is she so special?"

James' voice was unsure when he finally spoke, yet somehow more mature and deeper. Just as every single time he was speaking about her.

"I don't know, Pads," he answered the question that his friends kept asking him through years, "It's just - I don't know, she's beautiful. Not that it really matters after all, but still, nice to have a pair of decent legs around," Remus sent him a disapproving look from over a thick book he had been reading all the evening. "And she's smart. She's the smartest person I've ever met, excluding the company of present here Mr. Moony, of course," he added with admiration in his voice. Remus looked up and sent him a sheepish yet grateful smile, then came back to his book. "There's a lot of small things that make her so special..." James' voice trailed off.

"Ok, I can understand _that_," said Sirius, shifting himself to a comfortable position on the grass. "But why do you keep chasing and teasing her at every possible occasion? And, no offense," James looked at him warningly, but the raven-haired boy just waved it off and continued, "If I was to experience, regularly, her answer to your attention, I would seriously consider changing my object of admiration."

"But what can I do? I've tried everything but she still despises me," James looked somewhat like a little lost puppy. It was one of those rare times when he realized the idiocy of the situation he had dragged himself into.

"That's what we're going to find out," said Sirius mischievously. And that moment James' face lit up, all his doubts forgotten, agreeing on Sirius' plan happily.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were still sitting in their dormitory when the old clock announced half past eleven.

"We can't do it! It's a private thing and we have no right to open it. Moreover, we don't even have the smallest excuse to read Lily's diary!" Remus was whispering angrily, although only their four was sharing this dorm and none of them was sleeping. Maybe it was just the atmosphere of Hogwarts at night. Streams of moonlight spilling on the cold stone floors through great windows, high ceilings, distant echoes of portrait's whispers… Yeah, that could make one intimidated. Nervous even, considering all those ghosts floating in the corridors.

Still, they were lying comfortable on their beds, torches in the walls dimmed, and the four of them had been discussing their current situation for some time now.

"But Moony," whined Sirius shifting impatiently. "Who said we are going to read it? We'll just have a little look at the front page." Remus sent him doubtful look, so Sirius hurried on. "Just to make sure it's Lily's."

"But earlier you said we would read it," complained Peter before Sirius could stop him. They had told him the whole story a few hours ago and he still seemed excited about it.

"What?!" shouted Remus, now furious. "We do no such thing!"

"Course not, Mr. Perfect," Sirius assured him, smiling brightly, though inwardly struggling to keep himself cool and not kill Wormtail on the spot. "Peter obviously didn't mean it, right Pete?" He looked at the chubby boy meaningfully. "He's just had too much for dinner and now has problems with his stomach."

"I don't." grumbled Wormtail and folded his arms, yet said nothing more.

"We'll do as I said," continued Sirius and looked at James, who was suspiciously silent all evening. He was flipping through some Quidditch magazine pretending not to listen to them but Sirius could tell that he seemed concerned, if nothing more.

The clock tolled midnight. "We'd better be going," said Sirius getting to his feet. The other boys followed him, Remus frowning, Peter giggling excitedly and James, well, with a blank expression on his face.

When they reached the Common Room the girls had already been waiting for them, impatience written on their faces. If Lily saw them now, with her diary in hands, she would hex them, surely. The last time when Lily was cross with Isabelle, it took her a week to turn her hair back to brown. And she had been telling Lily that bubblegum pink was not really her colour!

Somebody who didn't know her well would say she was calm and certain that her choice was right. After all that was just a diary and the information inside couldn't harm anyone, could it? She was nervously playing with her chestnut locks, pacing room back and forth, shooting anxious glances at Angela, every five seconds. Was it because of guilt or fear that Sirius backed out from their deal, I cannot tell. She didn't usually act like that around guys, using her best friends' secrets as bait. It seemed hardly fair. Okay, it didn't sound fair at all! But she had an eye on Sirius since like, forever, and she was determined.

"Sit down," groaned Angela with pure boredom in her eyes. "You're making me dizzy," Isabelle sat obediently on the edge of the armchair, glancing at the door. When she finally heard them crack open she jumped to her feet automatically.

"I almost thought you changed your mind," said Isabelle smiling shyly, still unsure of her actions. She saw Sirius' questioning look and her fingers wandered to the pocket of her dressing gown and pulled back the little black book. The girl looked at the diary hesitantly, suddenly all her doubts flooding her.

"Do you need…" His eyes grazed her figure hungrily. _Damn, I've not had a girlfriend for a really long time if I'm saying this! _"Reassurance?" His friends looked at him questioningly, yet Isabelle seemed to be contemplating the offer, biting her lip.

"Your proposition's really tempting," she said, laughing sweetly. "But I don't think it's necessary." Sirius shot her a bewildered look. Since when did any girl say 'no' to him? To _Sirius_? The concept seemed rather ridiculous. Irrational even. Damn it, impossible! With another sweet smile she added,"Well, if anything goes wrong I am not to blame." But yet she didn't make any move to give it to the boy.

Suddenly, the diary was out of her hands and Angela handed it to Sirius throwing Isabelle a long annoyed glare. "If you two wanna flirt, or rather snog, from what I see, then nobody's stopping you. Just cut the act already." All the Marauders except for Sirius were astonished and looked at Sirius and Isabelle, confused. Was there something going on and they didn't know?

Sirius for his part had pure bewilderment painted on his face. _Did she really say it out loud? _After a second or two he regained his composure and grinned cockily at Angela. Nobody messed with Sirius' head, especially not a _girl._Without even realising it his eyes shifted on Isabelle, who was laughing a chime-like laughter, her eyes sparkling playfully.

"Hmmm… A snogging session would do you some good, Pads," James shot him a cheeky grin. The raven-haired boy couldn't believe it; even his best friend was against him. _He's so ungrateful, _Sirius thought angrily. _I get him Lily's diary, risk my reputation and…_

All of the sudden the book left his hands, as if summoned. He looked around in utter confusion and spotted an extremely furious redhead standing in the doorway, practically fuming. Nobody dared to move, to breathe even. Lily was glaring at them, her wand sparkling threateningly. A stream of pink light reached Isabelle turning her brown hair to rich purple shade. The girl raised a strand with slightly trembling fingers. When she saw the colour, she sighed, relieved. It could have been worse. Much worse.

"Hey, it's damn much better than the last time," she shot her _just a bit_ annoyed friend a brief smile, trying not to push Lily too hard. "So, who's next?" a cheeky smile appeared on Isabelle's lips. "Just please, keep your voice down. You'll wake everyone up! And besides, I really don't want to see McGonagall now, no matter what." At this one, Lily lowered her voice considerably.

"I could expect that much from her," she threw an accusing look towards Isabelle, the retort ignored, anger in her voice rising a little. "But I didn't expect it from you!" She was pointing her wand, still sparkling dangerously, at Angela.

"Stop waving that stick at me," Angela said her plea in mocking tone. "It's freaking me out!"

"It damn should," the redhead growled, though not with as much force as before.

It might have looked as if Lily's friends didn't care, as if they thought that the situation was insignificant, trifling with her. True, they were playing with fire but it wasn't the first time they had seen Lily that irritated. The only way to save themselves was to make her laugh so that she would forget the fight. But she just brushed their efforts away, turning to the four boys.

"And you," she shouted at them. James looked pleadingly at Sirius, his eyes begging for some kind of excuse. No matter how lame, just one single little excuse that would save his butt. "You promised. And you know what?! I damn believed you!"

James shuddered a bit at that. She trusted him? This much he had achieved and now it's all ruined. For nothing! _Damn, if I at least took a peek, _the boy thought. _But losing the little trust she had for me – it was worthless. _

A high-pitched voice interrupted his thoughts. "I should've known better, Potter."

"Hey, don't pick that tone on me! I didn't even touch the bloody diary," Sirius shot him a disbelieving look but James just shrugged it off. "We found it and wanted to give it back first thing in the morning." His voice was dripping with bitterness. "And stop accusing me about every thing that goes wrong in your life, Evans. It's hardly fair."

"But…" Peter yelped when Sirius' shinned him with an are-you-trying-to-get us-killed look. Isabelle and Angela seeing the confusion written on Lily's face knew that was their cue to go. They muttered quick goodbyes; Isabelle mouthed a "Good luck" to the boys and left as quickly as possible.

"What's up with this diary, anyway?" asked Remus with a questioning look.

"Since we've got it back for you, you owe us that much," Sirius added, grinning, already waiting with anticipation for a story. A really good story as he hoped.

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_AUTHOR'S NOTE:_ It's Carol this time. First of all, I take all the blame for the delay on me, as being a NaNoWriMo fanatic I dedicated all my free time to the contest. But as I can call myself winner now I solemnly swear there will be no hold backs now. I am done with the 50000-word novel. Well, to tell the truth I only finished the 50k part and the novel is still in progress but...

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. If you did, press the button below and write a piece of constructive criticism. Our offer, a cookie for a review, is still on. Who wouldn't want a free muffin?

Carol.

PS. As always THANK YOU Danielle, you're the best!


	4. Lily's Story

_DISCLAIMER_**: **_We do not own Harry Potter, the characters or anything related to it. However, we do own our imagination as well as our OC._

_AUTHOR'S NOTE:_ We're back and we're back for good.

Don't worry, Peter will certainly be awake at some point in the story. What's more: he will even say something. He just had a bad and tiring day. Or a bad and tiring month, whichever one you like more:) So, from what we know, he is not a _borderline narcoleptic_ (just sleepy) but we will check it.

Feel free to give us a Christmas present: a brand new shiny review. ^^.

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Lily's story

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you!" Lily finally surrendered. "But you'd better sit down because it's quite a long story." She still seemed a little uneasy. It was just an ordinary diary after all; they couldn't understand what could be so frustrating about it. Excluding, of course, the idea of the others knowing your deepest, most intimate secrets, it couldn't be all _that_ bad, could it? After all, you would get over it one day.

The Common Room was dimly illuminated by the flames playing cheerfully in the fireplace, the mysterious atmosphere of the castle a thousand times intensified. The pale light coming from the Moon was falling through the windows. Small rainbows were dancing on the stone floor, cast by the imperfections of the glass. The room was so much different compared to what the boys saw every time they turned up there after a game of Quidditch or just to do their homework. Those times the ever-crowded place seemed to be so dynamic that it turned to life. Every shadow seemed to move of its own accord and every whisper sounded like a scream in the eerie silence of the cold September night.

The group began to make themselves comfortable; James and Remus plopped into the crimson armchairs, while others sat on the large sofa in front of fireplace. Peter almost instantly closed his eyes, relaxing, and drifted off to the dreamland.

The redhead was sitting on the edge of the couch cushion, playing with her hands nervously, realising suddenly the absurdity of the whole situation. She, the Prefect of Gryffindor, was to reveal her deepest secret to them, the biggest pranksters in Hogwarts' history. And to share it with James Potter, of all people, the boy she detested the most. An arrogant and self-conceited idiot_,_ whose presence she was not able to stand for more than five seconds. She never quite understood how he managed to be such an excellent student and complete moron at once.

Lily remained silent for such a long time that the boys finally began to shift impatiently in their seats. "Come on Lily, start already!" whined Sirius, "You're making us nervous." He was still pouting as he rolled up sleeves of his shirt and placed his hands behind his head.

How could he feel so comfortable when she was dying of embarrassment? It didn't make it any easier either to get started when they all were giving her such expectant looks. Before she even uttered a word she glanced fearfully over her shoulder as if to check no one interrupted her story.

"First of all, you need to know it's not just an ordinary diary." Her voice was trembling slightly, fingers clenching on the dark material of her robes. "I found it a couple of months ago. Well… Actually, I kind of stole it…"

"_You_, Lillian Evans, did something against the rules?" James interrupted her in a mocking tone. Or maybe it was just astonishment, she couldn't tell.

"James, I really don't think it's the right moment," Remus glared at the black-haired boy.

Lily chose to ignore that little interruption. "Anyway, it was tucked inside a Potions book Severus lent me just before summer break. The notebook seemed somehow familiar to me. At first, I couldn't recall where I had seen it. But then I remembered I'd seen Sev writing in it several times and he has changed so much since then. He's become more vicious. He avoids me and spends all his free time with his little 'Death Eater' friends. He won't even stop to say 'hello'. And I thought we were friends."

Lily wasn't finished yet so the boys didn't want to interrupt her, seeing how hard it was for her to talk about redhead paused, opened her mouth to speak and then shook her head, resigned. "Never mind, it doesn't concern you."

"I was curious," she said after a while in a more conversational tone. "I know it's wrong. But he is my friend, isn't he? I just want to know what's bothering him. And since he wouldn't tell me himself at least I could read about it, right? I just couldn't give up our friendship that easily." The words that came out next were just as astonishing and unexpected to her as to them; for the first time Lily started to realise her motives. "You would do the same if you were me!" she burst out all of a sudden, desperate, although none of the boys was accusing her. It took her a while to calm herself down.

"The diary was empty, you know."

The four looked at the girl wide-eyed. "Empty? Have you tried _Aparecium_?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Not even a single word written inside."

"Strange," Remus frowned.

"I couldn't understand it either," Lily continued. "I was sure that I had seen him writing in it. Then I noticed something else. On the cover there was a name written in golden letters. Tom Marvolo Riddle. I was surprised but then I thought that maybe I had mistaken something. Maybe it was just a random notebook that he had bought along with the book and not the one Severus was writing in. Or maybe he had signed it himself, I don't know," she added hesitantly. "Severus has always been a little strange."

"And now you've finally admitted it?" James gave Lily a triumphant look and grinned cheekily.

"Shut up, Potter," retorted the girl, scowling at him.

"Yes, Prongs. It's getting interesting," Sirius said with a mischievous smile.

"Which side are you on, Pads?" James smacked him on the head and a grin was once again plastered to his lips. They started to roll on floor, fighting. It was fake, of course, the wrestling, yet it didn't stop Lily from concluding that boys would always be boys. And teenage boys would always act as if they were children. It just brought them joy.

"Guys! Hey guys," Remus tried to stop them but unfortunately failed, getting punched with a pillow. "Cut it out! Don't you want to hear the rest of the story?" He threw the pillow back at the fighting two. They jerked their heads up, looking at him resentfully and roared in unison.

"Of course we do, Moony!" They got up, sharing a long suspicious look and set themselves in the furthest ends of the room, apparently still a little edgy. James ended up on the couch squeezed between Lily and the armrest. In the middle Peter was still snoring happily.

"Please, don't tell me he's sleeping _again_," James shot his friends a begging look. Sirius and Remus gave out a quiet snort. When the laughter faded Lily picked up the story again.

"At first I wanted to give it back but every time I went to his place he just wasn't there. After a few weeks I gave up and forgot about the notebook. I put it my drawer, planning to return it after the school started. It wasn't as if I was going to use it myself. But then I had an awful fight with my sister. Somehow I ended up taking the diary out and writing the whole thing down in it. I have never had a diary before. I have never written about my feeling anywhere. But once I did I felt better. Relieved. As if something heavy was lifted from my chest.

"The next morning Severus came and was really nice. Just like he was before. He acted like he hadn't done anything wrong. He didn't even apologise. I just couldn't stand it. Eventually I broke out. Said things I shouldn't have said. I was screaming at him like mad. I guess I took it out on him for all those months he had been ignoring me." She finished in a small guilty voice, looking down at the floor, obviously ashamed. "I don't even know why I'm telling you all this," she sighed. "You're such pains in the arse sometimes. Especially you, Potter." James didn't look offended at all. He was too busy making mental notes of how to act around Lily in order not to make her angrier with him than she already was. Maybe it would work this time, the black-haired boy decided to be optimistic.

"You must admit that we're not that bad," Remus started smiling lightly. "We haven't pulled any prank on you nor we have opened the diary, although the two jerks here definitely wanted to," he added in a theatrical whisper, tilting his head towards James and Sirius, and grinning fully. "Anyway, what happened later?"

"Well, I thought that writing a diary isn't such a bad thing after all; if it calmed me after the argument with my sister, why wouldn't it do this time? So I opened the diary again and, flipping through the pages, I noticed that something was wrong. Something was different. I hadn't written the things I was reading in the notebook. I –," James broke in, not letting the girl finish the sentence. He didn't even mean to be rude, he was just curious.

"What do you mean? What kind of things?" he asked.

"None of your business," said Lily turning her back at the black-haired boy. "What I mean is it was still my handwriting but not exactly _my_ words," The three boys gave her a surprised look. "Every sentence was somehow upside-down, its meaning reverted. I thought it's just too twisted.

"I haven't opened the diary since then but every day I was becoming angrier and more frustrated. But I had to carry the diary with me all the time, because I was afraid that my sister would find it. It would just cause another quarrel and I wouldn't be able to stand her nasty comments again. I was afraid that I would lose control and do something I would regret later on.I was so relieved when the holidays were over. I could finally put the notebook away in my school trunk. That was when my frustration began to slowly fade and I felt free at last. Then I thought that perhaps it was the diary that had such a bad influence on me."

"That's why you act like a brat sometimes!" James couldn't help himself. The comment came out of his lips before he could think twice, or at all.

"Why, thank you, Potter," the redhead said ironically. "You know how to make a girl feel special."

"So, what you say is we cannot let others have any contact with the diary," Remus cut the little bickering before it had a chance to spin out of control. Now he had everybody's attention on him, which luckily prevented James and Lily from killing each other. "We have to hide it somewhere and then we'll think what to do with it," he paused, considering their options. Even though the castle was enormous there were only a few places where the diary couldn't be found, unless you knew where to look. "I think I know a good place," he finally said. "The Requirement Room. What do you guys say?"

"Are you sure no one else would find it there?" Lily looked a bit unsure.

"Yup, Lilykins," said Sirius mockingly, laughing at his own private joke. "Certainly somebody would just happen to be lingering in the corridors late at night looking for Tom Riddle's diary."

"Severus?" the redhead shot him down with one well-aimed scornful response.

"Good point, Lily," praised James with pure admiration written on his face. The girl gazed at him surprised. For the first time he called her by her first name. Was he was finally going to be nice to her? James, for his part, suddenly felt embarrassed and uncomfortable at his own daring. He turned his eyes to the other boys. "Then where else can we hide it?" Then another idea came to his mind. "How about my trunk?" he asked dreamily, already planning long evenings reading what Lily wrote, or didn't write, both options equally appealing to him.

"Not a chance, Potter," Lily snarled, all her hopes tarnished in less than ten seconds.

"But, Lily…" Remus started. "We don't really have any other choice…"

"We do have one, actually, " the girl insisted. "We can always give it to Dumbledore. He's the headmaster, after all. He would surely know what to do with the diary, wouldn't he?"

"Yeah, right. Old Dumbie has much more important things to do than having to handle a bunch of possessed adolescents," commented Sirius. "Where is your sense of adventure, Evans?"

"I just think it's too dangerous," Lily shook her head disapprovingly. "You can get us expelled!"

"For having a little black book? Not likely," cam the reply.

"Shit happens," murmured Lily. The boys shot her amazed looks. They were dimly aware that a girl could actually know any swearwords, even one like Lily. Although very often she came up with sophisticated expressions to describe James. Every time she spoke, no matter how rudely, he wouldn't even notice. The very sound of her voice calling him with such creativity was enough. That was why the black-haired boy just couldn't have got himself to feel offended in the slightest, the word just sounded so nicely in her lips.

Then Remus spoke again, intelligence beaming from his words. "But think rationally: if we had it in our dorm, no one but us five would know about it. No one would have a chance to find it and steal it," he looked around, hoping to get some more support from his friends but they only looked at him, blank expression in their eyes.

Lily for her part was considering the concept for a brief moment. "I guess he has a point," she admitted reluctantly.

"Of course he has, he's Remus!" Sirius tried to smile while yawning. He slowly sat up from the huge armchair he was almost lying in for the past hour and stretched. "I don't know about you but I'm exhausted and I'd rather be conscious in tomorrow's test in Transfiguration."

The comment brought them all back to the earth. Sirius looked at his wristwatch. "We'd better go now. It's almost one-thirty," he said and walked toward the stairs leading to the Boys' Dormitories. "Goodnight, Lily."

James and Remus stood where they were, the black-haired boy smiling sheepishly at the redhead, the other taking the little black book from the table.

"I guess Sirius is right, it's very late," Lily said looking at the floor, slightly intimidated by the way James was now gazing at her. "I hope you'll take good care of our little secret. Just…" she trailed off.

"We won't read it," said James firmly while Remus was giving her a reassuring smile. "I promise," he said, a bit too strong than he intended, his true feelings now taking over him. Then he realized that both Lily and Remus were staring at him, obviously surprised with his declaration and cleared his throat, embarrassed. "Well, I – ,"

"Thank you," interrupted Lily. And smiled. That beautiful smile that had won James' heart so long ago. Then she left the Common Room.

James was still beaming when he turned to look at Remus, who was still standing by the table. "You did great, Prongs," The golden-haired boy smiled and patted his friend on the shoulder with his free hand. In the other he was holding the innocent-looking diary. They looked at it hesitantly. "Whose trunk?" asked Remus quietly. James was silent for a moment then said, "Yours, I guess. It won't lure me that much, this way."

Suddenly a quiet sound came from the couch. Peter propped to his elbow and covered his eyes with his other hand. The flames burning in the fireplace were blinding him a bit. His voice was still blurry after sleep as he mumbled, "I must have drifted off. Did I miss something?"

"No, Pete. Of course…" _not, _before James could finish the sentence a loud snoring filled the Common Room once again. So they just left him where he was and went up to their dormitory.

Sleeping after such an eventful evening was now the last thing the three could think about. Nevertheless they changed into their pyjamas and obediently put off the torches. After a minute or so James spoke.

"Sirius, are you asleep?"

"Nope," the reply came after a while. A sound of short struggling with the bedding could be heard then Sirius muttered a spell and the torches went on. Both James and Remus were still sitting and not seeming to be tired in the slightest.

"What was the whole reassurance thing about?"

The black-haired boy couldn't help but ask and Sirius almost immediately began to regret that he had said anything at all. He could have pretended he was already asleep. He could have pretended he did not understand the question, yet somehow he couldn't make himself say a thing. The silence was getting more and more frustrating as Sirius was staring blankly into the space, silent. He was wondering what had actually gotten into him to say something like that to Isabelle. In front of his friends, moreover. To say that kind of things at all.

"Well?" James' voice lost all the playfulness and a note of impatience took its place. "Pads?"

"It's just about a stupid deal we made," Sirius answered vaguely. "That's nothing, really."

James shot him a sceptical look but said nothing. _Yeah, it's surely _nothing_._ Seeing his expression Sirius felt a little guilty, yet for an unknown reason he was still against telling his mates about the date with Isabelle. And he still didn't know why. None of them spoke for a while. Somehow it was clear that the subject was over and there was no point in starting a discussion.

"Well, what do you think about it?" said Remus finally, setting a pillow under his back, obviously meaning the diary not Sirius' behaviour.

"It's weird," decided James wiping his glasses. Then he put them on again and blinked few times as his eyes adjusted to the sudden sharpness of the vision. "If it wasn't Lily who said it I would never believe it. Just imagine - a diary? Changing everything you've written in it? They definitely don't sell such things in the Diagon Alley."

"Yeah," agreed Sirius. "Someone must've charmed it. Snape maybe?" He threw his friends a questioning look.

"I don't think so." Remus was frowning, thinking about something intensively. "None of us knows such charms, let alone Severus. And this Tom Riddle," he paused. "I'm sure I've seen that name somewhere, but I can't recall where."

They were silent for a while then James looked up at the golden-haired boy and asked hesitantly: "Did you hide it? I mean the diary."

"Yes, and don't try to take it out!" warned Remus and quickly added in a much softer tone. "We promised Lily that we won't read it, remember?"

The statement sounded convincing enough for James, so he smiled at his friend, grateful for preventing him from doing stupid things. "You're right, Moony. Let's get back to sleep," he said putting off the torches.

"By the way, we're Marauders from now on," Sirius' words rang long after they had been said and the two could almost hear him grinning in the dark.


	5. Halloween

_DISCLAIMER: We do not own Harry Potter, the characters or anything related to it. However, we do own our imagination as well as our OC.

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_

**Halloween**

The 31st of October at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry wasn't all that different from any other day in the calendar. Students still had classes to attend and homework to do, teachers still had piles of exams to correct. Only the pumpkins floating high in the air and smiling at the students maliciously were any indication that that night was somehow more special than any other. When the first stars appeared on the firmament everyone gathered in the main stairway, waiting impatiently for the upcoming dinner. The Halloween Feast was the most adventurous meal of all because you never knew what you would find on your plate. Or whether it was edible.

Finally the door leading to the Great Hall opened and the crowd that had been gathering in front of it poured in. Within seconds every seat was full and everyone fell silent as Professor Dumbledore stood up to say his usual few words, as he had done at every Halloween feast for as long as anyone could remember. Although over the years he had learnt that the feast was an occasion for everyone to eat until they felt sick and not to listen to his over-long speeches, the headmaster's playful character hadn't felt offended at all. Actually, the thought of that particular meal, that one time when the stomachs were taking over _savoir vivre_, always brought smile to his lined face. The scene must have looked exactly the same thousand of years ago when the first students in the school were celebrating the night of the dead.

***

"Butterbeer?" said Sirius in a half-excited, half bored way. As if he hadn't already known. Their party had to be perfect. Even if throughout the years the preparations had become a routine, everything still needed to be teed up. Every detail was important; the tradition was not to be forgotten. Every year they would make a list of things they couldn't have forgotten: beginning with the most obvious ones as Halloween decorations up to what kind of chocolate exactly did that fourth-year who had had Potions with them last year like the best. The party was for everyone, wasn't it? Therefore every single person should have fun.

"Check," James replied in the same manner. He crossed out one of the most important items, in his opinion at least, with an exaggerated and overly theatrical gesture.

It was in their second year that they decided to never be bored again after the Halloween feast and organised their own party. Not a far-fetched one, though, as they were only twelve and had to settle for only a few bottles of Butterbeer, beside every kind of sweet you could possibly think of, displayed on every flat surface available in the Common Room. Adding to it tonnes of food, door-to-door delivered from the schools' Kitchens, and the party turned out to be a great success.

One could ask where the Butterbeer came from. The four boys just made use of what they had learnt from the older generations. There was an unspoken tradition in the school, older than anyone's living memory, that the pranksters passed on the locations of secret passageways, as well as other useful information about the castle. You could find them everywhere if you knew how to look. And the boys did. They were smart and curious; the window of opportunities was open to them.

And so, three years later, being already "experienced" and knowledgeable about every brick in the walls of the castle, the Marauders were able to go and get anything they wanted.

"Firewhiskey?" No party could have gone well without that sensational drink and the boys knew it perfectly well.

"Check," James looked at his friend as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and added in an almost hurt voice. "Do you really have so little faith in me? I would've understood you blaming Remus here for not supplying us with much needed booze." He pointed accusingly at the boy and then added in a theatrical whisper. "But he's the responsible one."

"I heard that, you know," Remus pretended to be angry. But how can one be angry with James Potter for longer than five seconds? "Very well then," he said in an indifferent tone a while later. "I guess I will keep those four bottles I was about to give you after all. And I bought them especially for this occasion when I was on holiday."

James, Sirius and Peter stopped in mid-step and gaped at the golden-haired boy for a good minute. Remus, for his part, had great difficulties in suppressing a chuckle that was building up in his chest, but he did well. If they only knew what a hilarious picture they made with their eyes wide open and jaws dropped! At this point Remus couldn't stand it any longer and burst out into such contagious laughter that the others soon followed him. Still they had to wonder how many other surprises the golden-haired boy held for them. That was what Halloween did to people.

The four were already approaching the Portrait Hole, hurrying to make everything ready for the party, when Sirius abruptly stopped and hushed them with a wave of his hand. A second later they heard voices coming from behind the corner, high-pitched and hyped, discussing something vigorously. They sounded like very excited second-years.

"You can't be a vampire because I'm one _myself,_" grumbled one of the supposed-to-be-twelve-year-olds. They were obviously talking about what they were going to wear to Marauder's Halloween party. "I spent the whole afternoon making my fangs look vampirish! Yours are plastic." A surge of laughter almost escaped James' throat but, fortunately, he managed to cover his mouth with his hand on time. Surely, that conversation was going to be hilarious!

"Oh, Nathaniel, you just can't be the only one." The other boy was really desperate. He had probably spent a lot of time preparing his costume and now his hopes of having fun were being tarnished just because someone else wanted to be in the limelight. "Let me be a vampire too!" he pleaded, sounding hopeless.

"You don't even look like a real vampire!" Nathaniel pointed out. "Sirius Black won't ever let you to his party if you're not dressed properly." No Marauder would ever do such a thing, but they had to admit, the bossy one was good when it came to witty responses. Almost as good as them.

"But I would make a good one, I'm sure! I have fangs and a cloak." The unnamed boy wasn't going to give up that easily. "I even have a domesticated bat in my dorm. Can I be a vampire?"

"All right," sighed Nathaniel eventually. "If you really have to." He gave the other boy a while to cherish his victory and then added in an authoritative tone. "But you would have to be my servant. That means finding some beautiful maidens of Gryffindor for me, so I can drink their blood." At that point he broke into evil laughter.

"But Nathaniel." The Marauders just couldn't wait to hear what the boy would say to that one. And, as expected, his answer made it even harder to stay calm and remain unnoticed. A burst of wild and uncontrolled laughter would definitely give them away, wouldn't it? "How will I make them come with me?"

"For that, my little friend, I have a few tricks," said Nathaniel.

"But how will I know they are virgins?"

Sirius had to see who they were, the creative two. He just had to. Their facial expressions would surely be a comical sight when they realised that someone might have overheard their talk. Even funnier, if that someone turned out to be the Marauders themselves. And Sirius wasn't disappointed. Not in the slightest.

The two little boys, both dressed in long black cloaks, drew themselves up at once, trying to put the most serious expression possible on their faces. The Marauders walked past them, apparently not paying any attention to the strangely dressed second-years, and disappeared behind the Portrait. The boys sighed with relief. So good that the four hadn't heard their conversation.

While, in the Gryffindor Common Room James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were laughing for so long that in the end they couldn't breathe any more and slumped, still gasping, onto the couch before the fireplace.

Promptly at ten the party started. Gryffindors filled the Common Room within minutes, making it look smaller than it really was. Usually only few people could be seen lingering there in the evenings and now… it seemed that even the Great Hall would have been too small to fit all of the students that had gathered there.

The people were everywhere: sitting on the couch by the fireplace, cramming near the tables with all kinds of food on them or simply squeezing through the crowd, trying to find a place where they could stand untroubled for at least a while. Three friends were gossiping cheerfully in the corner, glancing up every time a handsome boy was passing by. The two vampires were chasing a little blonde shepherdess and her cat, dressed as a sheep. Chatter and laughter filled up the air, making it impossible to hear your own thoughts. And to think the party was just getting started.

Of course the most popular place in the whole room, at least among the older students, was the right corner. Surrounded by teenagers, there stood a little table with lots and lots of bottles on it. It wasn't hard to guess what was inside them, as everyone who stood there seemed to get more relaxed with every minute. They were laughing loud, telling each other stupid jokes, and toasting every once in a while, soft clanking of glass like music to their ears.

Remus stood nearby leaning against the wall and watching the surrounding closely. It wasn't that he wasn't having good time, being in a party like that one and surrounded by people he knew and liked, but he just felt responsible. He was a Prefect after all.

"Always on guard, aren't you?" The voice of Lily Evans was almost inaudible, subdued by music that had suddenly struck up from nowhere. Remus turned to face the girl. She seemed cautious too, her eyes scanning the room for any sign of danger. Just like him she preferred to sacrifice her own fun for the sake of other's safety. She didn't have any company at the moment; her friends, Isabelle and Angelica were hardly visible in the crowd, probably caught up in talking with James or Sirius.

"I've just had to send a first-year back to his dorm. He was drinking his second glass of Butterbeer. Can you imagine that?" Remus answered in a bit irritated tone. "Even Sirius wasn't drinking in his first year," he added after a while.

She looked at him wide-eyed and then burst out into hysterical laughter. "Who would have thought?" she managed between giggles. Now Remus had to laugh too. In the other side of the room a group of five-years moved one of the tables to make some space to dance.

No one needed an invitation to hit the dance floor. A second later it was already full. And no matter how old you were or who you were friends with, the moment the music had started to flow it was all forgotten. The only thing that seemed to matter was to jump as high as possible, throwing your arms up in the air, laughing freely, swirling and swinging along the tune. It was a quick one, so the whole room was dancing. As soon as it changed to something slower, only a few people were left, couples mostly, hugging and swaying.

A quiet voice interrupted the girl's thoughts.

"Lily?" It was James Potter. Uneasy, he cleared his throat and continued. "Would you like to dance with me?"

The red-head looked at him completely taken aback. The biggest prankster ever, the most annoying boy in the world was asking her so politely to dance with him? Calling her by her first name? Now, that was strange.

She looked him in the eyes, something she tried to avoid at any cost, and saw that there was not a trace of mocking in them. They were light-brown and so patient. So sincere. For the first time in five years Lily wasn't looking at James Potter as her personal curse, but as a boy. A boy who wasn't nearly as self-assured as he appeared to be. A boy who offered to help her when she needed it.

"Yes," she said before she realised what she had just done. James' eyes widened with surprise. Had she just agreed to dance with him or had he had too many drinks that night, and in consequence he was seeing, or rather hearing, things that were too beautiful to be true? Yet, Lily was looking at him calmly, instead of trying to hex him, as she often did. So what else could he do? He grabbed her hand, only half-consciously, and led her towards the dancing couples.

"Izzy," Angela murmured, as she nudged her friend in the ribs.

Isabelle turned, infuriated, although she would never show it. Sirius had just asked her to dance. "What is it?

"Look." Angela was pointing her finger at a swaying couple. James and Lily.

The girl blinked a couple of times. Of all sights, she would have never expected to see that particular one. Even the Giant Squid balancing on one of its tentacles would have seemed normal compared to what she had before her eyes. Because the terms "Lily" and "James" just didn't go together. And there they were, dancing in each other's arms. "Has hell frozen over?" she only managed but didn't get any reply. It seemed that neither Angela nor Sirius were able to speak. They just gaped at the couple completely taken-aback.

A half-eaten doughnut in one hand and a bottle of Butterbeer in the other, Peter approached the place where Remus was standing. They stood there, silent for a while. Finally the chubby boy spoke. "They make a nice picture, don't you think?"

"Yes," the golden-haired boy replied, smiling slightly. It would have been great if James and Lily finally were on good terms. It would surely save everyone's nerves. Every once in a while James was throwing him unsure, yet expressing perfect happiness, glances. And then Remus would always hold his thumbs up in a little reassuring gesture and nod his head. _Yes Prongs, so far everything's going fine._

It wasn't even a minute later that a loud slap could be heard. Every head in the room turned to look at the dance floor, as it was where the noise had come from. Lily Evans left the room quicker than it would take one to say _Reparo. _Dead silence filled the room, although the music was still flowing.

Without hesitating Angela ran after Lily. Isabelle, for her part, wasn't sure what to do. Finally the loyalty toward her friend won over her affection for Sirius and she rushed out of the room, shooting Sirius an apologetic look. The sound of slamming door to the girls' Dormitories rang in everyone's ears for a long time.

"Lily?" The girls called to the closed door of their bathroom. Lily locked herself there as soon as she had left the unfortunate party and wouldn't come out. Nothing helped. No amount of pleading or threatening would make her go out.

"I don't want to talk about it," came the muffled reply. Lily wasn't the shut-myself-from-the-world-whenever-I-get-hurt type of girl yet she was definitely not a person to cry her heart out before her friends and tell them what was going on. She wasn't a person to cry, in the first place. And she certainly wasn't a person who had ever trusted James Potter. Yet she was there, shaken by whatever he could have possibly said and definitely more touched that she would like to admit.

"Oh, come on!" Angela was trying to encourage her. She was leaning against the door frame and rolling her eyes, yet deep down she was really worried. She had no idea what made Lily talk to James in the first place and even though Lily's slap was to be predicted the whole situation must have hurt the redhead more than ever before.

"What did he do?" asked Isabelle in a soft voice. She knew Lily well enough; when the time was right the emerald-eyed girl would spill. But not before. Even though telling her all those reassuring words seemed to be nonsense, as Lily neither needed nor wanted any of those, she was trying to find something right to say. But before she had any chance to open her mouth the bathroom door cracked and slowly opened.

Lily looked at her friends with sadness and pure disappointment written on her face. She let out a sigh and said silently. "Nothing. Potter was just being himself."

They knew better than to ask questions since it was completely obvious they would get no answer. Sedative smiles were shared and the girls hugged Lily reassuringly. Sometimes it is better to stay silent, let only your gestures reveal your feelings because sometimes there are no words to describe what is going on inside of you. And sometimes there are absolutely no words to express your support.

After a while Lily tried to kick her friends out of the Dormitory, since the Halloween get-together was an annual thing and she definitely did not want them to feel like they had lost an opportunity of having good fun during one. They just laughed at her, explaining, as to a small child, that friends were more important than any parties in the world.

Back in the Common Room the cheerfulness reappeared as soon as Lily left the room, and the party that once seemed to be falling apart was actually gaining on force. Students didn't let one quarrel destroy their Halloween fun; they knew better than that. Of course the alcohol flowing in their circulatory system helped immensely to unwind the party and practically everyone in the room was dancing and laughing, many of them singing loudly to the tune that was currently playing.

The only people that didn't seem to enjoy the party at all were its actual organisers and creators. The ones that had never been seen sitting and doing completely nothing during any social event. And now, all four were squeezed on the couch by the fireplace, unreadable expressions on their faces. They hadn't talked much since Lily left the room and Sirius was already getting impatient.

"What the hell happened?" he asked finally. James did not reply at first. He was staring blankly at the bottle of Firewhiskey he was holding in his hand for so long that Sirius wasn't even sure if he had heard the question at all. He hoped that they wouldn't be very insistent. It was already hard to hide his feelings under a façade of indifference and their trying to cheer him up would just make things worse. When he finally spoke his voice was perfectly emotionless.

"Snape."

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTE:_ Hello everyone, I hope you had wonderful Christmas and an all-night party for the New Year's Eve. We're very sorry for the delay, but you know how it is… right? And the school has started again. Well, I hope you liked this chapter, although it only features a singular event. Reviews are much appreciated, though:)

Danielle, we can never thank you enough, can we?


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